Yeah, so I, too, have become interested in teaching overseas, for a whole boatload of reasons. I'm a substitute teacher right now, and I'd like to do some actual teaching. I've only been considering the idea for a little while, but I like the sound of Peru, esp. Trujillo (I'm asthmatic, and therefore leery of mountain air). I had a fair amount of Spanish in high school, and it tends to come back quickly when needed. But, of course, there are things I'd like to know:

-How's the internet access? Obviously there's some availability, but is high-speed available in most cities? The reason I ask is that my wife has a very nice telecommuting job which she could conceivably keep, thereby making my salary much more negotiable. We have over $10K stashed between us anyway, but it'd be awesome if we didn't even have to dip into it.

-From my digging on these forums, it sounds like TEFL is a much more reasonably-priced venture if you do it in another country, but I haven't had any success looking up such programs--El Britanico seems defunct, for example. Could anybody point me in the direction of a good one? I know you can get a job without one, and I wouldn't want to pay $1K+ to get a job that pays half that much per month, but I've never taught English as a second language.

-In a related vein, do schools offer training, or do they just set you loose? What's it like dealing with administration? Parents?

-One thing I haven't seen mentioned in questions here, which surprises me, is the general "school culture" in Peru. Are we talking a strictly regimented learning environment, barely controlled anarchy, somewhere in between, or a mixture that varies widely depending on the school? I'm most interested in teaching middle school (I love 11-13 year olds, we get along really well in my experience). I could teach adults as well, or even high schoolers in a pinch. Really little kids, I'm not up to.

-If Peru is really unfriendly to beginners, is there another country I should try first? I've read some nice things about Chile as well. And Panama, but dang, I think I'd melt.

I know this is a big block of questions, sorry. And thanks in advance!
Elok

EDIT: Oh, and just to confirm, I'd pretty much have to go to Peru and trust in my ability to find work once I got there, right?

Internet is good - schools range from very proffesional to shacks in the middle of the jungle. There is usually a reasonable demand for native speakers -Peru is VERY friendly - especially if you look like youve got money .

If you-re a licensed teacher, look into intl schools, otherwise on a TEFL salary, you-ll make between 600 and 1000 usd a month. NOt a lot.

For training, you-ll get some depending on the schools. It-s stressful though, you-re in between parents and admin and at intl schools , many of the mothers stay home and have nothing better to do than check up on you and their kids.

General school culture. Just a bit before I turn this into a rant.
1. Plagiarism is encouraged by uni profs who write books and give half credit if their work isn-t quoted exactly, but don-t care about due credit.
2. CHanging grades is rampant becuase the kids are in therapy and a bad grade will set them back.
3. WAY too much paperwork
4. WAY too much emphasis on papers looking "pretty"

Mexico is where I-d point newbies to.

EDIT: Oh, and just to confirm, I'd pretty much have to go to Peru and trust in my ability to find work once I got there, right? If you want an intl school job, no. If you want a TEFL job, yes.

Thanks for the answer (and the PM)! Why Mexico? I'd considered it, but I was scared off by all the stories about drug cartel violence lately.

Oh, and don't worry about ranting if you want to. The way I see it, it's better to have as full a picture as possible. I'm a sub, I'm used to hanging in the teacher's lounge listening to the regulars complain about stupid meetings and parent teacher conferences with helicopter mommies.

Thanks for the answer (and the PM)! Why Mexico? I'd considered it, but I was scared off by all the stories about drug cartel violence lately.

Oh, and don't worry about ranting if you want to. The way I see it, it's better to have as full a picture as possible. I'm a sub, I'm used to hanging in the teacher's lounge listening to the regulars complain about stupid meetings and parent teacher conferences with helicopter mommies.

Ok, the drug war might put a slight kink in plans. . . Mexico is close to the US, so it's closer to home for many people. It's in North America, not South America, (yet still part of Latin America) so the culture isn't that different, in the respect that many Americans have meet MExicans and interacted with them before.

Mexico has a longer TEFL niche than other LA countries, so you can usually get a visa and sometimes get help with housing (or finding housing) and if you're lucky, you might get a flight as well.

I think, like everywhere, it depends where you go. If you stay out of DF or Guadalajara, and go to smaller towns, it's usually safer.

I think, like everywhere, it depends where you go. If you stay out of DF or Guadalajara, and go to smaller towns, it's usually safer.

Speaking as someone who has lived in Mexico City for over three years, I can assure you that Mexico City is one of the safer places to live in Mexico these days. The drug cartel violence has not come to the capital.

I'm actually looking at a TEFL cert program in Guadalajara right now, ITTO. They're not CELTA or Trinity, but they're not charging CELTA/Trinity rates either. Still trying to dig up trustworthy reviews on them. Anyway, I went to the Mexico forum and saw a bunch of horror stories about students so bad they make Dangerous Minds look like Harvard; their parents pay a lot of money, the school will pass them even if you fail them, so they talk over you, ignore all attempts at discipline, and feel free to call you "puta" or even hit you.

Thanks for the answer (and the PM)! Why Mexico? I'd considered it, but I was scared off by all the stories about drug cartel violence lately.
:

Mexico is a big country. While there are areas that are heavily affected by the drugs wars there are others that are virtually untouched. I would stay away from the northern states, but aside from that itīs pretty much the same old, same old. In fact, crime is down in Mexico City over the last few years.

I'm actually looking at a TEFL cert program in Guadalajara right now, ITTO. They're not CELTA or Trinity, but they're not charging CELTA/Trinity rates either. Still trying to dig up trustworthy reviews on them. Anyway, I went to the Mexico forum and saw a bunch of horror stories about students so bad they make Dangerous Minds look like Harvard; their parents pay a lot of money, the school will pass them even if you fail them, so they talk over you, ignore all attempts at discipline, and feel free to call you "puta" or even hit you.

That's not a general trend across Latin America, is it?

While itīs true that if you teach rich kids you will run into that, but it is NOT the case at all at smaller, more middle class schools, nor is it usually true at language schools. If you are doing a TEFL certificate I assume you arenīt a degreed teacher, in which case your first job wonīt likely be in a high school. If you are, I would certainly stay away from the big name schools, that is where youīll get the worst behavior. I have a former c-woorker who runs the English program at a small private elementary school, just a regular neighborhood school, and I shadowed her for a couple of days when I was considering working with her, and didnīt see any behavior that fell outside the scope of normal kid stuff, and far less that what I saw in public schools when I taught in Milwaukee. My advice would be if you are considering a school, ask if you can shadow a teacher for a half day, youīll see eveything you need to see.

I'm actually looking at a TEFL cert program in Guadalajara right now, ITTO.

Oh, and I have met several ITTO grads, they were quite happy with their training, and the program is well regarded. From what I know if it, albeit second hand, it sounds like one of the better programs. There is at least one semi regular poster on here that did their class last year, maybe if youi post in the Mexico forum asking for info about the program he will pop up and answer your questions.

I think, like everywhere, it depends where you go. If you stay out of DF or Guadalajara, and go to smaller towns, it's usually safer.

Speaking as someone who has lived in Mexico City for over three years, I can assure you that Mexico City is one of the safer places to live in Mexico these days. The drug cartel violence has not come to the capital.

I was just in DF. I found it pretty safe actually. Though I'm sure, in general all over the world, the bigger cities have more problems simply due to more pepole. Petty theft, such as pickpocketing, targeting tourists, etc.

You folks have been incredibly helpful, thank you! I will be asking around about ITTO, so now my main stumbling block is the air pollution in Guadalajara. My asthma is in remission now, more or less, but if the air gets really chewy I'm going to be hacking nonstop, and a Google search for "air pollution Guadalajara" is turning up plenty of relevant hits. At least it's supposed to be less bad in summer, when I'll likely be there.

Okay, after taking way too much time hemming and hawing, I've narrowed it down to Maximo Nivel or ITTO, both in Cuzco. MN would be slightly cheaper, but I've heard some weird stuff about the hiring practices of their local English school (which may/may not reflect on the quality of their TEFL program, or even be true). Also, MN's customer service has been a bit more on-the-ball than ITTO's, which is a silly thing to judge a school by but, hey, first impressions...